TG weekend in the 2T 2009

Pretty much the only difference between this year's Thanksgiving weekend and last year's was...

about 10 degrees.

Everything else was practically identical.

It started the same way:

Trottin' with the other frozen turkeys
at CSI with my girls and my husband to cheer me on.

We came home and

1. played games

2. took a nap while my oldest made pies by himself
(good job Bret!)

3. tried new recipes

4. and relied on some old ones

We then gathered around our beautiful trusty table

(decorated by my chicas with hand-made nametags)

to give thanks and share our meal.

We ate too much and then watched The Polar Express together.

(and btw, it's been a while since I saw that and I agree Abby - - it is a little creepy).

We've been eating pie for breakfast for two days now.
What a great weekend.

We have much, indeed, to be thankful for.

talent.

My son is talented. And weird.

Tate would rather read than eat. Now he can join the circus AND keep reading.

His pants, you ask?

Ripped. Then trimmed. Then (in his words) art.

Over the weekend (at dinner) he supplied us all with this nugget:

"Look Mom, I took some salad! All on my own accord!"

Perception. Courtesy of P-town...

I ventured down to Zion this past weekend for a {sweet} baptism and a Nie-Auction winner photo session.

Other stops of interest included Kohl's, Rubio's, Frogurt, Distribution Services and the BYU Bookstore.

While dodging the mass quantities of pedestrians adjacent to (every square inch of) campus, I managed to capture a smidge of their AWESOME Fall Colors. It's too bad that 12 years later the crisp air and sound of the leaves crunching under my feet STILL make me want to vomit due to the morning sickness that came with the pregnancy of my FIRST child experienced during the same season in the same town.

I drove by all my old apartments and chuckled to myself thinking of the various memories that were made within the walls of each one.

I wondered for a moment as I walked through the Wilk if I might-could-be passing for a 20-something coed. I played it up, carrying my camera pack and talking on my phone.
BTW -everyone is walking and talking on a cell phone. ZERO exceptions, really. What on earth did we do when simply left to our own thoughts to walk, all alone...?

At any rate - back to my aforementioned wonderment... Not too long after wondering if I fit right in with my fellow Wilkers, I came across a window, into which I glanced and caught my trusty reflection. Complete with faded makeup,

tossled (post-photo shoot) hair, circles under my eyes, comfort footwear, etc. and at that moment
I knew for myself and relented - -

I wasn't being mistaken for a student. Not for a nanosecond.

So to you, Provo...I still love you. It was great fun while it lasted (me and you), and maybe someday I will crunch leaves in your gutters and I won't feel queasy. And since you are indeed the most beloved of the very person to whom that auction benefitted, I leave you to her, and them, and the others to whom your glory is paramount. Go. Go and make memories for them too. Rock on. Forever. Cause, well...you're good at it.

what we did with our extra hour...

Here's what we did with our extra hour this morning.
Yes, I wait until morning to turn the clocks back, and relish the extra hour with each push of the button on each clock. And while doing so, exclaim to all, "Look everyone! A free hour!"

It was a good way to ask for all the chocolate candy from the stash and let them think it was going to a good cause. The two "Candy Bar Conglomorate" apples will be well-fought-over.

It was a year ago yesterday that Doug and I returned from Twin Falls in search of a home to house our family when we would shortly be moving from our beloved Prescott Valley.

So many emotions flooded my mind at that time. It seems impossible it was an entire year ago. And, since it was a crazy time, I didn't even get a Halloween picture of my kids last year. Even for this Halloween Scrooge, that's unprecedented. The pics we took yesterday should make up for it.

Yes, the (indestructable) Sully costume has gotten some good use these past 5 years. That was a great eBay investment. In two more years, Kyle will use it and I'll sell it on eBay myself, returning the favor for some other family who can use it for equally as long.

Seeing as how the day was exceptionally beautiful and free of wind and being that it was Halloween and I had no appiontments scheduled, I decided it was an optimal opportunity to attempt our own family picture before the evidence of Fall is gone.

As I have done in the past, I enlisted the help of a local adorable Young Woman and away we went.

Our first stop was a beautiful ranch that I pass each day on my way to school. I've been wishing since I first passed it that I could try a picture here.

So we did! It's on a busy road, so we had a great time requesting horn honks from the sugar beet truck drivers that passed every 2 minutes. Poor Jessi standing in the middle of the road risking her own life for our precious picture.

The train tracks were fun too, except for the smoke in our eyes from the burning of the field or the trash or whatever someone was burning. Love the sticks, huh? Love em'.

I'm grateful for my family's cooperation, however limited.

And just in case I don't get that "SNOW" picture that I want for Christmas this year...yes, you'll see one of these again when it graces our Christmas card.

Happy November!